Saturday, September 29, 2007
My New Show on Elastic Waist
For more information on my show and great news about weight and health issues check out www.elasticwaist.com.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Silly Rabbit, Ads are for Kids
Last week there was a somewhat pointless article in the New York Times regarding childhood obesity rates and advertising aimed at children. I have to say that one of the perks of being an avid New York Times reader is that I get that lofty feeling that comes with pretending I’m a bit more of an intellectual than I really am. So, when I read articles that are pure common sense, not a bit enlightening and basically pointless I get a bit irritated. That being said, to summarize this article; advertising aimed at children is chock full of high fat, sugar laden junk food, and if we want to save children from a lifetime of obesity we must look toward changing our advertising techniques. To this I say, “Uhhh, yeah, but kids don’t have jobs.”
I will admit to watching the occasional Saturday morning cartoon (my current favorite is The Replacements), and the most striking thing that I’ve noticed is that advertising aimed at kids hasn’t changed all that much in the last 15 years since I was in that target audience. The toy and cereal commercials are the same exact format. I remember being a child and running to my room every time a toy commercial came on that featured a toy I actually owned so I could bring my toy back and show the television. (Now that I think about it, wow, that’s really kind of perverse.) But, the one thing I remember clearly was that I never, ever, ever had the cereals and junk food that they were advertising, and sure I wanted it, but considering my sincere lack of disposable income in elementary school, my mom was pretty much in charge of what I ate. I certainly begrudged her parenting choices when I would be eating raisin bran while the other kids ate lucky charms, but the point I’m making is that advertising can only be as effective as a parent will allow it to be.
I will say right now that I do not have children, nor do I have any upcoming plans geared toward procreation, so the trials and tribulations of parenthood are lost on me, and therefore you can take my opinion for what it’s worth. I happen to have been very lucky that my parents were extremely focused on creating good eating habits. I don’t think I’d even heard of a chicken finger or mozzarella stick until I was in high school. In one of my many previous lives I waited my share of tables and was always truly shocked at the foods that restaurants offer on children’s menus, everything is deep fried. How as a culture can we tell children that they are expected to eat foods high in sugar, fat and preservatives, and then expect them to grow into healthy adults who make informed food choices? So, back to advertising, it only works because there is a market for it. If the market says, we’re not going to let our children manipulate us into letting them eat sugar coated sugar, then other options will appear. “NO”, it’s a magical word, I heard it a lot growing up, most kids do, it may suck to say but at a time when childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the last 30 years I think we owe it to ourselves to say “no” more often. How much can we blame on advertising when we fall for it?
I will admit to watching the occasional Saturday morning cartoon (my current favorite is The Replacements), and the most striking thing that I’ve noticed is that advertising aimed at kids hasn’t changed all that much in the last 15 years since I was in that target audience. The toy and cereal commercials are the same exact format. I remember being a child and running to my room every time a toy commercial came on that featured a toy I actually owned so I could bring my toy back and show the television. (Now that I think about it, wow, that’s really kind of perverse.) But, the one thing I remember clearly was that I never, ever, ever had the cereals and junk food that they were advertising, and sure I wanted it, but considering my sincere lack of disposable income in elementary school, my mom was pretty much in charge of what I ate. I certainly begrudged her parenting choices when I would be eating raisin bran while the other kids ate lucky charms, but the point I’m making is that advertising can only be as effective as a parent will allow it to be.
I will say right now that I do not have children, nor do I have any upcoming plans geared toward procreation, so the trials and tribulations of parenthood are lost on me, and therefore you can take my opinion for what it’s worth. I happen to have been very lucky that my parents were extremely focused on creating good eating habits. I don’t think I’d even heard of a chicken finger or mozzarella stick until I was in high school. In one of my many previous lives I waited my share of tables and was always truly shocked at the foods that restaurants offer on children’s menus, everything is deep fried. How as a culture can we tell children that they are expected to eat foods high in sugar, fat and preservatives, and then expect them to grow into healthy adults who make informed food choices? So, back to advertising, it only works because there is a market for it. If the market says, we’re not going to let our children manipulate us into letting them eat sugar coated sugar, then other options will appear. “NO”, it’s a magical word, I heard it a lot growing up, most kids do, it may suck to say but at a time when childhood obesity rates have more than tripled in the last 30 years I think we owe it to ourselves to say “no” more often. How much can we blame on advertising when we fall for it?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
